Count Three and Pray (1955) Reviews

• From Hellraiser to Hellfire Preacher

  bkoganbing2008-06-28

  Count Three And Pray finds Van Heflin one weary Union veteran from the Civil War, tired of all the killing he's seen and participated in. When a parson from the town he's from in the west is killed at Vicksburg, Heflin decides right then and there he's received a calling to take his place. Before the war Heflin was quite the roughneck character, a gambling, fighting, and loving man if there ever was one. A lot of folks in the town just don't quite think he's changed. Some like town boss Raymond Burr are out to prove it in any way possible. Some like saloon owner and town madam Jean Willes have different ideas about getting Heflin back to his old ways. If that isn't enough Van's got two other problems. One is a young orphan type girl, a budding Calamity Jane in Joanne Woodward who's decided to just move into the parsonage that Heflin's set up shop in and won't leave. Not good for a righteous preacher to be cohabitating with a girl just this side of minority. But secondly Van's forgot that he has to get himself ordained somewhere. Minor little detail, but still one of those things folks can be sticklers about. Count Three And Pray is a good western that sadly has the potential to be something far better. The cast is uniformly good and this was Joanne Woodward's big screen debut. She was quite lucky she didn't get herself typecast in roles like these. A whole lot of issues are not resolved in Count Three And Pray and the ending is not quite satisfactory for me. Still it's a well made and very earnest film that seems to have been crafted by some skilled people.

• delightful!

  keitha522005-01-11

  This picture is a great intro to Joanne Woodward with good dialog and solid performances by all. Van Heflin is perfect as the repentant womanizer and Raymond Burr is always a good heavy. I think Joanne W. is wonderful as the feisty young woman. As a tomboy, seeing the movie in my youth, I related to her character. Everyone's transformations and adjustments to life after the Civil War are believable. The only thing that is bothersome are the stagy sets. The rendition of the hymn "Holy, Holy,Holy" is a good American standard of the times. One of my favorite films but not seen enough on TV. Wish a DVD of it would be included in JW's classic collection with "Three Faces of Eve" and the "Long Hot Summer".

• One of the better westerns

  helpless_dancer2000-02-13

  A former drinker and womanizer, returned from the Civil War, comes home as a newly converted preacher. He takes up residence in the old parsonage with a high spirited young girl and begins rebuilding the church. He finds a lot of trouble along the way, mostly from the local store owner who resents the new preacher because he fought for the north. Lots of action and drama made for a very good picture and Joanne Woodward as the rambunctious Lissy stole the show. She had me laughing all the way through. 4 stars.

• Excellent Film

  whpratt12008-06-30

  This is the very first time I viewed this film and it held my interest from the very beginning of the film to the very end. Van Heflin, (Luke Fargo) plays the role of a Civil War soldier who returns to his home town and is very well known for his past with wine, women and song. Luke takes it upon himself to become a minister and set up a church which had been burned down to the ground. The rectory was still standing but a wild young girl was living in the house and was using a shot gun mainly at Luke's head and did not want him anywhere near her home as she called it. This wild young gal's name is Lissy, (Joanne Woodward) who never takes a bath and is a typical tom boy so to speak. There is a bad dude in town named Yancey Huggins, (Raymond Burr) who hates Luke and does everything in his power to destroy Luke's chances of building a church and accuses Luke of living with a girl under age and things not be fitting a man of the cloth. There is lots of laughs and some very dramatic scenes which makes this film a great family film and very worth your while to view this picture from 1955.

• Great Cast Rises to the Story

  Jaynrand2004-05-10

  Herb Meadows wrote the original story "The Calico Pony" that this movie was based on, and this was its shooting title. Van Heflin was great as Luke Fargo, Joanne Woodward in her film debut is okay, but a bit tiresome and "Methody" in her performance. She does a nice job but is not as appealing as a Debbie Reynolds-Tammy backwoods type. The supporting cast including Raymond Burr, Jean Willes, and Kathryn Givney are terrific. Best of all is Allison Hayes as the rich girl gone bad. Her performance is amazing and seems slightly truncated so that she could get NO audience sympathy. Some of her dialog is delivered over closeups of Woodward. No other female character is allowed to be sympathetic at all, even Nancy Kulp as made shrewish and mean to Woodward's benefit. This makes the story suffer - but Heflin, Burr, and Hayes make it a very interesting nearly-forgotten movie.